Cool-Colored Roofs

Cool roofs cut cooling loads by up to 20% through the use of reflective materials that limit solar heat gain.A conventional cool roof features light-colored surfaces—shades that commercial facilities with flat or low-slope roofs find acceptable. However, homeowners have not adopted the cool-roof approach because they typically prefer the aesthetics of darker colors for their steep-slope roofs. Until recently, there were no cool roofing products available in darker, more appealing hues.The Solution Manufacturers have now developed dark-colored pigments for roofing materials that reflect sunlight instead of absorbing it.These pigments are now being used in coatings for metal roofs, in clay and concrete tiles, and in the multicolored granules that shingles are made of.